


Little Truths We Tell Ourselves

by wewriteletters



Series: Something Different [2]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Pining, cannon idk her!, late night thoughs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 03:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17890250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wewriteletters/pseuds/wewriteletters
Summary: Shaun Murphy thinks he loves Claire Browne. At least that’s what he tells himself.





	Little Truths We Tell Ourselves

**Author's Note:**

> Well I'm back! Since season 2 has been horrible in terms of shaire content, I thought I'd pull out some of my old WIPS, polish them up, and post them. These two were started around early February of last year. Please keep that in mind when reading; I didn't want to edit them too much, but I am aware of how Shaun's relationship with Lea and Claire's relationship with Jared actually developed in the show now. But since fics are about bending (and sometimes ignoring) cannon I'm fine with my interpretation. Just a fair warning, if you are a passionate Shaun/Lea shipper or Claire/Jared shipper, this might not be the fic for you. Anyway, this authors note is getting longer than the actual stories so here you go, hope everyone enjoys!

Shaun Murphy thinks he loves Claire Browne. At least that’s what he tells himself. 

He tells himself that everyday. When Claire walks past him during rounds, curls bouncing and sprinkled with light from the bright, overhead lamps. When he watches Claire speak to patients, her voice soft and soothing and the kindest, most genuine smile spread across her lips. When they are eating together in the cafeteria and Claire lets him just ramble on about some topic he had read about the previous night and he knows that Claire actually cares about what he has to say. 

And he reminds himself of it especially when it’s late at night, and the only thing he can think about is Claire the first day they meet.

Shaun hates lying. So he won’t do it to himself. He thinks he loves Claire. 

Even if the only one who will ever know is himself.

And now it’s three in the morning and Shaun has been unable to sleep because the only thing on his mind is how Claire had come up to him in the cafeteria on his first day and he had asked her “Which time were you pretending?”

But she hadn't been pretending, had she? She wanted to be his friend.

She is his friend.

He brings his hands up to his chest, allowing them to clasp together so he can run each finger over each knuckle. He knows he should get some sleep. He has work in the morning. He can’t be late again, Doctor Melendez will be mad.

‘Claire will defend me,’ he thinks. ‘She always helps me.’ 

Before he moved to San Jose to begin his residency, Shaun had been afraid. He never told Doctor Glassman, but he was afraid. Suddenly every horrible thing everyone had ever said about him seemed like fact. But he had friends now. He had Jared, and he had Lea, even if she wasn’t in San Jose. And he had Claire. 

Shaun had never felt like this before. He had thought he loved Lea. And now he thinks he loves Claire. Claire is why he stayed.

Which is why he thinks he loves Claire. 

He never stopped thinking about those simple words: “I’m gonna miss you.”  
Shaun clicks on his phone, the dim screen announcing that it is now 4:00 am, despite time still feeling like it’s standing still. He has to get up soon. He has to be at work at 8:00 am, the bus arrives at 7:15 am, he’ll need to be ready by 7:00 am so he can walk to the his stop. 

If he gets to work early enough, he’ll see Claire in the break room making coffee. He doesn’t like coffee.

Shaun looks up at the ceiling, realizing he will probably not be getting much sleep the rest of the night. He wishes he could ask someone for advice.

But he always goes to Claire for that.

‘I have a crush,’ Shaun tells himself. ‘I have a crush on Claire. But it doesn’t matter because Jared likes her and she doesn’t like me. So I won’t tell her. So it doesn’t matter.’

He never fully understood why he decided to stay in San Jose, after being so determined to leave with Lea. Maybe he was just scared. But what was he scared of? Was it loosing Claire? 

It all felt so different. He had liked it when Lea kissed him. He liked going on a date with her. But he doesn’t think he loves Lea. He just loved how it felt. He wants to feel that with Claire. He wants a date with Claire. He wants to kiss Claire. He wants to call Claire his girlfriend. 

He wants her to love him too.

But that was stupid. And Shaun isn’t stupid.

He can’t ruin their friendship. What if she laughs at him? What if she is just like those kids in middle school, what if she says she likes him too, but it’s all a trick? She doesn’t have to know. He doesn’t mind. She is still his friend.

The alarm goes off and brings him back to reality. Claire isn’t sitting across from him anymore. He is just alone. 

So Shaun gets up, grabs a button down and socks and his bus pass and his phone and heads off to the hospital, ready for a day full of rounds, sutures, surgery, and Claire. 

He thinks he loves Claire. 

At least that’s what he tells himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
